Blurred Lines Between Business and Leisure Travel

GBTA Convention featured considerable talk about the blurred lines between business and leisure travel.

Consumers have come to expect an amazing experience when it comes to booking reservations for vacation travel. Now, they want this same experience when it comes to booking business travel. That was the conclusion of a panel Tuesday morning.

Dorothy Dowling, Senior Vice President, Best Western Marketing and Sales, led the  panel, and she was joined by Douglas Anderson, CEO of Carlson Wagonlit Travel; Scott V. Alvis, Chief Marketing Officer of Amadeus North America; and David Pavelko, Director of Travel Partnerships for Google.

The three panelists agreed that the industry is undergoing a technological revolution. Business travelers are looking for a booking experience similar to the consumer experience. Mobile is king. And having great content and integration with other software is an absolute must.

Travel providers are responding by developing user-friendly mobile applications that are more tailored and provide users with the right information at the right time.

Douglas Anderson noted that 50 percent of all venture capital funding invested in travel over the last 10 years was invested in 2014 alone adding that if you think change is the norm now, hold on to your hats – technology will continue to to transform the travel distribution landscape.